News
is circulating around that Senate Bill No. 2073, purportedly an act to
abolish the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016 or R.A
No. 10912 is being pushed in the Senate.

This is to clarify that the abovementioned is a newly filed pending
Senate Bill and still has to pass through the required deliberation,
including the counterpart measure in the House of Representatives,
before it could amend an existing law.

CPD is essential for any professional to deliver services that comply
with the latest standards of quality, efficiency, safety, among
others. It also ensures compliance with regulatory laws, and
international commitments by professionals.

PRC and the Professional Regulatory Boards have put in place
initiatives to address issues of affordability and accessibility.
Guidelines are being prepared to standardize seminar fees, crediting of
professional activities and online courses.

From the enactment of RA 10912, employers and government agencies are
encouraged to be CPD providers so that existing capacity building
activities could be part of CPD compliance by the personnel/employee.
By September 2018, there are 1,617 CPD Providers and 34,156 CPD Programs
accredited. Moreover, informal learning and professional work
experience will now be considered as additional sources of credit units
subject to the submission of a proof of participation and a narrative of
learning outcomes. Applications for Renewal of Professional
Identification Cards (PICs) until the end of 2019 are accepted even
without full CPD compliance, provided the applicant undertakes to
complete his/her compliance.

The foregoing initiatives and accomplishment have been undertaken
despite the fact that CPD has been unfunded since the implementation of
the said law.

Please refer to our website for further updates on the implementation of CPD.

MANILA
– The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading a proposed
measure that would create the Department of Human Settlements and Urban
Development.

Senate Bill No. 1578, or the Human Settlements and
Urban Development Act of 2017, was approved with a vote of 20-0, with no
abstention.

Under the measure, the Department of the Human
Settlements and Urban Development shall be created through the
consolidation of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
(HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).The
Department shall act as the primary national government entity
responsible for the management of housing, human settlements and urban
development.

It shall be the sole planning and policy-making,
regulatory, program coordination, and performance monitoring,
adjudicating entity for all housing, human settlement and urban
development concerns, primary focusing on the access to and
affordability of the basic human needs.

Senator Joseph Victor
Ejercito hailed the passage of SB 1578, saying the creation of a
department for human settlements would be an integral part of the
government's machinery for transformation to a better Philippines.

In his manifestation speech, Ejercito noted that the proposed measure has been pending in Congress for more than two decades.

“The
Filipino people have been waiting for this bill as early as the 8th
Congress under Senate President Jovito Salonga and House Speaker Ramon
Mitra, Jr. I am happy that it is in this Congress, through the
leadership of Senate President Sotto, that the full fledge department
for the housing sector will soon be put in place,” he said.

The
chair of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and
Resettlement said the bill’s approval showed that lawmakers have taken
seriously the challenges in the housing sector.

“With the
department, we will now have a more efficient and systematic way of
addressing the massive issues affecting the housing and urban
development sector. We will now have a central body in charge of the
sector that will focus on access to and affordability of shelter,”
Ejercito said.

"I am in faith that the measure will be signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in no time," he added.

Under
the bill, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development
would be composed of the Office of the Secretary, and the Bureaus of
Policy Development, Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation;
Environmental, Land Use, and Urban Planning and Development; Housing and
Real Estate Development Regulation; and the Homeowners Association and
Community Development.

Among the functions of the bureau for
Policy Development, Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation are: to
formulate a national housing and urban development policies and
strategies that are consistent with the Philippine Development Plan to
promote social and economic welfare; formulate housing finance policies;
formulate and implement housing policies and programs, in coordination
with the key 22 shelter agencies for urban poor communities and informal
settler families; and hold continuing and comprehensive studies and
research necessary for housing and urban development, among others.

Meanwhile,
the Bureau for Environmental, Land Use and Urban Planning and
Development is tasked to develop and maintain a shelter and urban
development management, standards and monitoring information system;
provide technical assistance to LGUs in strengthening its role and
building the capability of provinces, cities and municipalities as the
primary entities for housing and urban development and management; and
assist the LGUs in the establishment of a Special Housing Fund which
shall be exclusively used for the new settlement projects with housing
and urban development new settlement projects and renewal projects of
the LGUs.

The Bureau for Housing and Real Estate Development
Regulation shall develop mechanisms and implement programs that will
initiate and promote the establishment of new settlements, urban renewal
programs, and prototypes of housing and urban development
interventions; manage and oversee the development of proclaimed housing
sites; implement a single regulatory system that shall govern all
activities relative to the planning, production, marketing, and
management of housing and urban development projects; and take over
unfinished, incomplete or abandoned licensed real estate development
projects under Presidential Decree No. 957, among others.

On the
other hand, the Homeowners Association and Community Development shall
register, regulate and supervise the Homeowners Associations and
Condominium Units Owners Associations/Corporations and other housing
development associations; provide technical assistance to encourage
housing cooperatives and civil society organizations to serve as the
implementing agencies of their housing and urban development programs;
and promote integrated approaches that provide decent housing, suitable
living environment, and expanded economic opportunities for low and
moderate income persons, among others.

The bill also proposes the
creation of a National Shelter Board to address housing policies and
plans as well as to reduce bureaucracy.

The board will be composed
of the secretary of the Department of the Human Settlements and Urban
Development, the director general of the National Economic and
Development Authority, the secretaries of the Department of Finance,
Department of Budget and Management, Department of Public Works and
Highways, Department of the Interior and Local Government, the heads of
the key shelter agencies, specifically the National Housing Authority,
Home Guaranty Cooperation, National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation,
Home Development Mutual Fund, and the Social Housing Finance
Corporation. (PNA)